Safe-deposit lock



Patented @eti ll?, i922.

WILLIE'I 1.-MQSELY, OF STAJIFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOE TQ THE YALE t TOWNE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, F STANFORD, CONNECTCUT.

SAFE-DEPGST ESCE.

pplication led December 72%, i321. Serial liio. 524,173.

To alwhomz't may con-cern: a sealed package until they are shipped to Be it known that I, WILLmM P. Moenia', the bank or sai'e deposit company, and then a citizen of the United States, and a resident delivered to the renter o'j the box. The 50 of Stamford, in the county of Fairfield and locks are delivered without change keys t0 AState of Connecticut. have invented certain the maker of said boxes, or to wlioever-apnew and useful Improvements in Safe-Den plies'the locks to the boxes. They are apvposit Locks; and l do hereby declare the plied indiscriminately, and are without visifollowing to be a full, clear, and exact deble designation as to the keys which lit the scription of the invention, such as will entumblers of each lock.

able others skilled in the art to which it ap- One of the principal objects of this invenpertains to make and use the saine. tion, viz.; to guard the keys and then` bit- My invention relates to improvements in tinge from everyone except the ultimate user, safe deposit -locks, and system of safeis already attained by'afclass of locks known 6o guarding safety deposit boxes. as changeable-combination key locksg as .15 The lock illustrated by the drawing is a tor example, a lock set forth in Patent No. well known type, requiring the use ot a 814,335, 'issued to Warren H. Taylor on guard or preparatory key before the change ,March 6, 1906. Y or box renters key can be used. lWhen furl3nt this type of lock is very intricate and 65 nishing the locks to a bank, or safe deposit oi expensive construction, involving as it 2 0 company, the present practice is tohave each does, in the setting oi' the lock, the separalock accompanied by its ownkey' until the tion ot' every tumbler into two parte und lock is attached to its door.4 Each change bringing it together again in a new relation, key either has a number thereon correspond- Which new relation fixed by the hitting of 'ing to its box, or else is in some other way the particular change key used. My invendesignated so that when a box is rented the tion accomplishes the object above set forth proper change key is turned over to the cus-` in connection with locks which have a onetomer or renter of the box. Thus, anyone piece tumbler, the hitting -oi which is not having possession of the change keys knows changed in use; 75 what box the key, or keys, will open. qilthougb ,the .lruul'uig shows a particular Referring to the usual practice ot' shiptype oi' sate deposit lock, it is clear that my ping locks With their cluingte keys, referred invention can be'casily and with equally to above, it is apparent that With this pracgood results. applied to other types of safe tice there is ample opportunity for anyone deposit locks. and indeed to *many other 80 having access to the keys to obtain, not only types oi locks not provided with a a duplicate of a key, but also to know the. guard or preparatory key as, for example, box which the key will open. locker locks or any style of locks intended In the manner hereinafter set forth, l for a series of doors or receptacles, there beconceal or safe-guard each and every change ing many cases Where, ior convenience and e5 or renters key so that the key for a box safety, it will be desirable that the keys 40 will not be known or accessible to anyone, and their bittings shall not be known or acuntil the box has been rented, and then cessible until said keys are handed over to known only to the box renter. the linal user.

To accomplish this l construct my lock so The locksfhere shown are provided with ce it may be applied to its door without the use means for holding the change key tumblers of its change or box renters key so that, in unlocking position so that, tor purposil ol' therefore, after the lock has been. made, the application. to the box and demonstration ot' change key or keys for each lock e kept in the box to renters, the bolt ot the lock ,may

'are he actuated by a blank or work key. Each "lock is also provided with a movable, numu bored late, said plate, when the tumblers ld in unlocking position, as above, is also held in position so that its number 1s concealed. But when themeans for holding the tumblers in the unlpckin'g position is removed, said tumblers autoniuticall move into position to dog their bolt,fan at the same time the plate moves so that itsnumber may be seen; and then, the package bearing "the corresponding number will be found to contain the proper chan e ke s to operate the lock, and these are t en elivered to the box renter. x

It is cleai', therefore, that the illicit duplication of keys is prevented because they are sealed and inaccessible, and4l if by chance any package of keys should come into the hands of an evil disposed person, he could not tell to what box they belonged.

It is clear also that, by the-method above outlined, I have accomplished man` of the advantages of the'changeable-com ination 'key lock, above referred to, -by a method which is eiective and at the same time much simpler and more'economical in manufacture. p

In the accom anying drawin s; Figure 1 is a view in ont elevation o the lock; Figure 2 is a view in rear elevation of the same, 'with the number plate concealed;- Figure 3 is a similar view showing number plate exposed through an opening in the rear face of the lock; Figure 4 is aview in front elevation of the lock showing the screw for holding the change key tumblers in unlocking or inoperative position and the number plate in elevated position to cona ceal the number thereon; Figure 5 is a similar view showing the screw removed and the change key tumblers in their operative position; Figure 6 is a view of the lock, the bolt and change ke tumblers bev ing removed to show the number plate lFigure 7 is a view of a change key in dotted lines in a sealed envelope; Figure 8 is a.

View of working or skeleton key; Figure 9 a view ofthe guards key; Figure 10 is a sectional view on the line 10-l0 of Figure 4 and Figure 1l is a sectional view on the line 11 of Figure 4.

The lock is adapted to be secured to the inner face of the door of a safety deposit box, the front face plate 10 thereof being secured to the lock casing 11 by screws 12, which are concealed when the lock is ap plied to the inner face of a door. rThis front face of the lock is provided with two cylinders 13 and 14 respectively, which latter receive the key plugs l5 and 1G. 'The cylinders 13 and 14 project from the face plate l0 and pass through openin rs in the door, so'that both key plugs wil be accessible at the yfront of the door in the usual and well known manner.

17 is the bolt mounted in the lock casing and rovided with two fences 18 and 19 the ormer of which is adapted to coact with the gatin s 20 in the change key tumblers 21, an the latter fence with the gltings 22 in the guard tumblers 23.

The two sets of tumblers are independent of elch other and are actuated by independent keys the guard tumblers 23 being actuated by .the guard or custodians key 24 andthe change key tumblers 21 by the chan e key 25, all of which tumblers may be o any of `the usual well known types.

The construction is such however that the bolt cannot be retracted until both sets of tumblers have been actuated to bring their gatings in line with their res ective fence on the bolt, hence to actuate t e bolt after the lock has been applied to a box and the latter rented, the guard tumblers 23 must be first actuated'to bring their gating! into line with guard fence 19 on the bolt, after which the bolt 'may be retracted by entering the change key .25 in its key plug 15 and turning the same in a direction to retract the bolt, the change key plug having a cam engaging the bolt for actuating the latter.

26 represents a plate located within the lock casing and provided with a number, which after the lock has been applied to a safety deposit box and the latter rented, is released as hereinafter explained and moves to a position to expose the numberv 27, with its head resting-'in said opening'y which is elongated to permit of the bolt to be freely projected and retracted, and is provided with a shank or unthreaded extension 29 which rests in the 1gatings of the change key tumblers 21. is-'extension 29 of the screw 28 is located inline with and adjacent the inner end of the change key fence 18 on the bolt i7, thus rendering these tumblers inoperative' while the screw remains in its position, and permitting the bolt to be actuated by ,the guard key 24 and a skeleton or work key, which latter is constructed to shift the bolts of, all fthe iocks, and is used in assembling the boxes. The guard keytumblers for the locks may be, and preferably are alike, so

that a single keyretained by the guard or custodian ot the boxes lcan set the guard tumblers and thus permit the bolt to be actuated by the renters or change key.

Vvith my improvement the change or renters key is not needed for, actuating the bolt until the screw hasbeen removed thus releasing the change key tumbler-s 2l and permitting them to dog the bolt, and so hold it until actuated by a change key that will shit't them so to bring their gatings into line with the tence 18 on the bolt.

.'Vv'ith my improvement, when an order ot locks is shipped. the change keys do .not Iac'- ronipany the locks, but areA shipped separately, each Ain a sealed envelope having thereon a number which corresponds to the number on the number plate 26 of a lock, so that the key for any lock ot the series cannot become known to any one until the screw 28' has been removed, thus releasing the number plate and permitting the latter to move to a positionl to exposethe number thereon,r which number corresponds to the number on one ot' the sealed envelopes. All details o'l 'the change or renter-s key for each box are therefore completely safeguarded from the time they leave the manufacturer, up to the time they are delivered in sealed envelopes to the box renters.

ln applying the locks, the mechanic, 1n addition to the guard key, is given a skeleton or work key which will operate the charge key plugs l5 ot' all the locks. This is4 made possible by reason ot' the fart that the change kev tumblers ari` all held up in unlocking position by the screw 2S, which as pre\.'iously stated. is screwed into the bolt so that its inner end stands in the gatings ol the tuniblers. the gatings bring in line with the tence 15 on the bolt` hence any key. or even a screw driver inserted in the key hole ot' the plug" l5, can be used to throw the bolt in or out after the guard tumblers have been actuated by the proper key.

After the lock has been applied, the door is locked bv a work or skeleton key and so left until the box has been rented, at which time the custodian opensI the box with a work or skeleton key and then removes the tumblcrsl retaining screw 2H. llpon. the removal ofthe screw. all the tumblersI 2l drop onto the tumbler l'cnre into active locking position and at the same time the number plate 2li turns into position so that the number thereon will be visible through the opening 'libe turning ol this number plate. then indicates to the custodian the number ol` the sealed envelope i-imtaining the key which must thereafter be used to shift the bolt.

Alter the number plate drops into position to expose the number thereon. the bent end of' spring 31, which throws the plate into operative position, engages the free end ot the latter, and absolutely prevents the said plate from being moved to its initial position without disassembling the lock, and

removing the bolt, hence when the number plate has been once shifted to expose its number it cannot be'restored to its initial position, except as above stated by removing the lock trom the door and reassembling the arts.

lt will thereforebe seen'that no opportunity is given' for any one to get possession of the change key for a particular box, from the timeit leaves the factory until it is delivered to the box renter, and no one can locate the proper key for any' lock without having first obtained the plate number, which can be obtained only at the time of renting the box. it' the screw '28 be removed to expose the number on the plate it cannot be replaced, hence its absence and disclosure of the number on the number slide will indicate tothe custodian, guard or olicials of the bank that the lock has been tampered with. In order to prevent the opening of the lock tor the purpose ot' ascertaining its slide number the cover or lace plate 10 is so attached or protected by any well known means that it cannot be removed without vleaving evidence or' its having been tampered with.

lt is evident that many slight changes might be resorted to inthe relative arrangement of parts shown and described without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. Hence l would have it understood that iY do not wish to conine myself to the exact construction and arrangement of parts,

shown and described but,

Having fully described my invention what l claim as new and desire to secure by Letterslatent, is

l. system ot' sate-guarding safety de-i posit boxes, comprising locking means, a change key. removable means't'or rendering the locking means inoperable, a key designating member maintained invisible by said removable means and adapted to be exposed to view by removal otl said last-mentioned means, means normally concealing the change key Jfrom the custodian ot' the box, and key 'concealing means having a designation thereon corresponding to the designation on said .key designating' member.

i2. ln a lock, the combination ot' a lock casing having an opening therein, a bolt having a tence, a tumbler, movable means for holding said tumbler in inoperative position, and number plate held in inoperative position and adapted when said movable means is withdrawn to permit the number plate to move to a position Where the number thereon will be visible through theopening, in the lock casing.

45 having an opening therein. a movable numa 1,432; zo

3. In a lock, the combination of a bolt having a fence. a tumbler having a gating Ianda removable device engaging the tumbler for holding the tumbler in unlocking position.

4. In a lock, the combination of a bolt having a fence, a tumbler having a gating for the fence, a number plate and movable means for initially holding the number plate concealed and the gating in the tumbler in line with the fence on the bolt.

5. In a lock, the combination of a bolt having a fence, a tumbler having a gating for said fence, a movable number plate, and means removably secured to the bolt for in itially holding the number plate concealed and the tumbler in its unloking position.

6. In a lock, the combination ot' a bolt having a fence, a tumbler having a gating for said fence, a movable numberplate connected With' the locking casingmand removable means secured to the bolt adjacent to the inner end of the fence andin line with the latter for initially7 holding the number plate concealed and the gating ot'4 the tumbler in line with the tence.

7. In a lock, thc combination of a lock casing having an opening in its rear face, a movable number'plate within the lock casing and adapted to be moved to expose the number thereon through said opening, a

bolt having a fence, atumbler, and means removably secured to the bolt and removable from the outside of the lock for initially holding the number plate concealed and the tumbler in position 'to permit the bolt to be retracted.

8. In a lock, the combination oi a. lock easing having an opening in its rear face. a movable number plate secured within the casing, removable means for holding the number on said plate in a concealed position, and means for locking said number plate over said opening aft-er it has been released.

9. In a lock, t-he combination of a casing ber plate secured Within the casingsaid plate tending to move into a position whereby it may be seen through the opening in the casing,means to engage said plate for locking it in said last mentioned position, a bolthaving a fence, a tumbler having a gating and a screw detachably secured to the bolt for initially-holding the numbers on the plate out of sight and for holding the gating in the tumbler in line with the tence' on the bolt, the screw being removable through said openin in the lock casing. i

10. n a lock,`the con'ibination of a casing having an opening in its rear face, a bolt, guard key tumblers and change key tum yblers for (logging said bolt in its locking position, a. number plate pivoted within said casin'gand adapted 'to be moved over said opening, and al screw secured to the bolt and initially holding the number plate in a p0- sition to conceal the number thereon and also hold t-he changeV key tumblers in inoperative position, the said screw being removable through the opening in the lock casing.

11. In a lock, the combination of a casing having an opening in its rear face, a bolt having two fences, guard key tumblers coacting with one fence and change key tumblers coacting withl the vother fence, a number plate movable to a position to expose the number thereon through said opening in the lock casing, and a screw removably secured to the bolt and adapted to initially hold the number plate in position whereby the number thereon will be concealed and also hold the change key tumblers in operative position, the said screw being removable through the opening in the lock casing.

12. In a lock, the combination of a casing having an opening in its rear face, a bolt having a fence, change key tumblers coacting with said fence for normally dog-ging the bolt in its projected position, a number operative positions, the said screw being removable through the openingin the lock casing.

13. In a lock, the combination of a key controlled bolt, a tumbler, means for initially holding the tumbler in inoperative position, and a designating charac-ter adapted to be coneealed'when the tumbler holding means is in engagement with the tumbler,

and move into a position to be seen when said tumbler has been released and free to move to deadlock and release the bolt.

14. In a lock, the combination of a bolt having a fence, a tumbler havin a gating, the said tumbler adapted to be initially held in position to permit of free movement of the fence, and. a designating character initially concealed and adapted to be exposed to view from the outside of the lock casing after the tumbler has been released to coaot with the bolt.

15. In a. lock, the combination of a bolt havingla fence, a tumbler having a .gating and a device removably secured to the bolt and engaging the tumbler for holding the gating in the latter in line with the` lense on the bolt.

16. In a lock, the' combination of 'a bolt having a fence, a tumbler having a gating 'for said fence, a movable number plate, and

means removably secured to the bolt for iny itiauy l0 the lock for initially holding the number plate Concealed and the tumbler in to permit the bolt to be retracted.

In testimony whereof-r l have signed this specification in the presence oi' two Subscribingr witnesees.

WILLIAM l. MOSllLY.

position Witnesses:

fuixuns BERRY, Joris H, Dammen, 

